House gives final approval to 'bathroom' proposal

Updated 2:18 pm, Monday, May 22, 2017

Photo: Eric Gay, STF

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Members and advocates of the transgender community who oppose Senate Bill 6 protest in the exterior rotunda at the Texas Capitol as the Senate State Affairs Committee holds hearings on the bill, Tuesday, March 7, 2017, in Austin. The transgender "bathroom bill" would require people to use public bathrooms and restrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) less

Members and advocates of the transgender community who oppose Senate Bill 6 protest in the exterior rotunda at the Texas Capitol as the Senate State Affairs Committee holds hearings on the bill, Tuesday, March ... more

Photo: Eric Gay, STF

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

The Texas bathroom bill has been arguably the most controversial bill introduced during Texas' 2017 Legislative Session, drawing reaction from protesters, politicians, business leaders and celebrities. Keep going to see what you need to know about previous versions of the proposed law. less

The Texas bathroom bill has been arguably the most controversial bill introduced during Texas' 2017 Legislative Session, drawing reaction from protesters, politicians, business leaders and celebrities. Keep ... more

Photo: Sara D. Davis, Stringer

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

1. Priority

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the so-called bathroom bill, dubbed the Texas Privacy Act, one of his top priorities for passage this session.

1. Priority

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the so-called bathroom bill, dubbed the Texas Privacy Act, one of his top priorities for passage this session.

Photo: Stephen Spillman, FRE

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

2. What does it do?

The bill would require transgender people to use bathrooms based on their “biological sex.”

2. What does it do?

The bill would require transgender people to use bathrooms based on their “biological sex.”

Photo: Sara D. Davis, Stringer

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

3. The start

The state’s bathroom battle began in Fort Worth when its school district policy, first adopted in 2011, allowed students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

3. The start

The state’s bathroom battle began in Fort Worth when its school district policy, first adopted in 2011, allowed students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

4. Sponsor

The bill, Senate Bill 6, is authored by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham. Fifteen Republican senators have signed on to the bill since its initial filing. Lawmakers in support of the bill argue it will protect women from sexual predators in bathrooms.

Under Senate rules, a bill must have 19 votes before it can be brought up for floor debate and a vote. So far, SB6 does not appear to have enough supporters to get a vote by the full Senate.

5. Will it pass?

Under Senate rules, a bill must have 19 votes before it can be brought up for floor debate and a vote. So far, SB6 does not appear to have enough supporters to get a vote by the full Senate.

Photo: Tom Reel, Staff

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

6. State control

City or county officials would not be allowed to adopt an ordinance that prevents a business from making policies for their bathrooms and dressing rooms.

6. State control

City or county officials would not be allowed to adopt an ordinance that prevents a business from making policies for their bathrooms and dressing rooms.

Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

7. What about the House?

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus condemned the legislation, arguing it would make Texas “less competitive for investment, jobs and the highly skilled workforce needed to compete.”

7. What about the House?

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus condemned the legislation, arguing it would make Texas “less competitive for investment, jobs and the highly skilled workforce needed to compete.”

Photo: Tom Reel, Staff

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

8. Celebs react

Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and more than 140 other artists and entertainers have signed a letter calling the bill “poison” and urged Texas lawmakers to drop the bill.

8. Celebs react

Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and more than 140 other artists and entertainers have signed a letter calling the bill “poison” and urged Texas lawmakers to drop the bill.

Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle

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10 things to know about the Texas bathroom bill

9. NFL response

If passed, the legislation could keep future Super Bowls from Texas. A spokesman for the NFL told the Houston Chronicle the NFL “embraces inclusiveness,” and reiterated the league's policies that prohibit discrimination.

Texas Association of Business released a study predicting that there would be billions of dollars in economic losses if the bill were passed, but Politifact found that certain elements of the study were shaky. A dozen Republicans in the Texas House asked the business lobbyist group to retract the report it published last year.

The NCAA pulled seven championships out of North Carolina after the state in 2016 approved House Bill 2, a so-called "Bathroom Bill" criticized as discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents. Texas officials unveiled similar proposed legislation on Jan. 5, 2017, in Austin, leading some to caution that Texas could also be at risk of losing sports events and other business.

In this file photo, Villanova fans cheer after their team wins the NCAA National Championship at NRG Stadium, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Houston.

Click through these photos to see other organizations and companies that have canceled plans for events or business deals over so-called bathroom bills.

Peter Thiel is the founder of PayPal, which canceled plans in April 2016 for an expanded operations center in Charlotte, N.C., over that state's House Bill 2.

PayPal expansion

Peter Thiel is the founder of PayPal, which canceled plans in April 2016 for an expanded operations center in Charlotte, N.C., over that state's House Bill 2.

Photo: SAUL LOEB, Staff

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NFL Super Bowl

Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 was initially scheduled to be played in Tempe, Ariz., but the National Football League moved it to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., after Arizona voters in 1992 rejected a proposal to reinstate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a state holiday.

In this file photo, wide receiver Don Beebe of the Buffalo Bills (left) forces a fumble on defensive tackle Leon Lett of the Dallas Cowboys during Super Bowl XXVII, Jan. 31, 1993. The Cowboys won the game, 52-17.

The Texas-based Big 12 might face difficult decisions over where to hold events after the presentation of Senate Bill 6, the so-called Bathroom Bill on Jan. 5, 2017. The Big 12's first football championship game in six years is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2017, in Arlington.

In this Dec. 1, 2001, file photo, quarterback Major Applewhite, No. 11, of the Texas Longhorns points tauntingly at the Colorado Buffaloes bench after he threw a long pass for a touchdown late in the second quarter of the Big 12 Championship at Texas Stadium in Irving.

Angie's List, the crowd-sourced review website, announced in March 2015 that it would halt an expansion in Indianapolis, after Indiana approved a "religious liberty" bill widely criticized as anti-LGBT.

AUSTIN — The Texas House on Monday gave final approval to a bill that would prohibit transgender students from using school bathrooms that best align with their gender identity, the chamber's response to the Senate's clamoring for a statewide bathroom restriction for trans people.

The House vote 94-51 to approve Senate Bill 2078, a bill regarding emergency disaster plans for schools, with the bathroom amendment attached. Rep. Chris Paddie, the Republican from Marshall who authored the amendment, said it would allow all students access to a single-stall bathroom or empty multi-stall facility, including those who are shy, have a colostomy bag or have other reasons they might want privacy.

The bill now goes to the Senate, which can either accept the House's amendment or call for a conference committee to iron out their differences.

Democrats tore into the amendment as a throwback to the state's history of racial discrimination, particularly Jim Crow-era laws that mandated separate bathrooms for black and white Texans. Rep. Senfronia Thompson of Houston, the longest-serving African American and woman lawmaker in state history, held up a historic picture showing "white" and "colored" bathroom signs. Story continues below

The Texas House just voted to approve a proposal keeping transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. Under the the bill, transgender students at public schools would not be allowed to use the bathrooms of their choice and instead be directed to separate restrooms. "This amendment is the bathroom bill and the bathroom bill is an attack on transgender people," Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat.

Media: Wibbitz

"Bathrooms divided us then, and it divides us now," Thompson said during a preliminary vote Sunday night. "We talk about how God created life. God created transgenders, too."

The issue was part of a larger push by conservative Republican leaders in the Senate to restrict a person's bathroom access in public schools, government-owned buildings, and college campuses based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. The Senate approved legislation to that effect in March, but the House refused to take up Senate Bill 6, one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's flagship bills this session.

Patrick, who threatened to force a special session over the issue, has contended it is a matter of privacy and safety for women, but transgender rights' advocates said a "bathroom bill" of any kind would target trans people for discrimination and harassment. It is already against state law to assault someone in a bathroom or elsewhere, and some cities, including Houston, have local ordinances that offer more protections in public bathrooms.

Scroll through the gallery above to see things to know about the Texas 'bathroom bill'